Low output pick ups (More Musical ?)

[Toddy]

Thought I would throw this into the Hive for discussion,

It's kinda been on my mind for some while, however, I have no technical background on this.

I've used most basses and gear over the years, but always seem to return to a late 90s Warwick std, these are excellent but were known for having a MEC pickup with low power output, this never bothered me, as a decent amp and FOH support were always available 

to me this bass just seems a "Magic Wand" and is more musical, than anything else I've used

Ive also recently read that Carole Kaye never had her volume pot on full as cranking it back a touch "sounded better"

I even thought I could be that less power = more compression, although thats probably drivel, but its a more balanced musical sound than my other gear, Ive owned high output Fender and Ibanez amongst others.

SO, is there a case for low power pickups?  vintage stuff still seems highly desirable, or am I talking bollox again lol

Like to know thoughts

J

     

[Woodinblack]

That is the point of active pickups (not active basses), where the actual pickup is too weak on its own, and it is amplified at source to make it up to normal level output. Some people certainly prefer the sounds, although 'more musical' is an asthetic choice, not an absolute value.

Certainly with a weaker magnet or lower coil winding, there is a physical measurable reduction on impact on the strings (not in carole kayes case, turning the volume down just makes it quieter, which you just amplify more later, the pickup still has the same impact), whether this makes it better or not depends on what you like.

[fretmeister]

I haven't noticed this on bass but I do on guitar. In my youth I went through so many high output pickups looking for my sound and they often felt artificial / robotic.

 

Then on a recommendation from old Chandlers shop I put a Seymour Duncan Alnico 2 Pro into an Ibanez RG and it was so much better. The guitar came alive. 

My favourite guitars are usually Les Paul shaped so when I had a Gibson LP Studio in about 1995 I investigated more and put a SD Pearly Gates pickup in it.

 

That's kind of a PAF but with a bump in the mids. In the wrong guitar it can be a bit nasally, certainly when played alone. But in the right guitar and in the mix it has massive dynamics and seems to stay out of the way of the bass. At the time I was using a Mesa Dual Rec (Rev G) and they were always flubby in the low end despite their METAL \m/ reputation. Almost everyone using a Dual Rec sticks a Tubescreamer in front to solve the flub and hit the mids harder - but with the Pearly Gates I didn't feel the need to do that.

 

 

[msb]

I know people that have removed wire to improve the pickup sound. 
They swore the surgery was successful.

I have never been tempted. 

[Chris2112]

I've played on low output active basses and high output passive basses. There is no hard and fast rule for any particular type. I find my impression of the output tends to be affected more by how much natural compression and treble the pickups produce. FWIW I like a hot, rich signal. Leave that wooly vintage fluff for the oldies. 

[Baloney Balderdash]

Lower output pickups, in particular single coils, will be more sensitive and react more naturally and directly to picking dynamics.

 

Like being less compressed and having a wider dynamical range.

 

And it is actually not just a matter of the output getting quieter when you apply less force and higher as you apply more force, beside the fact that lower output single coil pickups will react more sort of linearly this way, that is a more direct relationship between picking dynamics and the volume that is put out, additionally a tone change according to your picking dynamics is happening as well, so that gradually softer picking will also actually result in a gradually softer tone, and gradually harder picking will result in a gradually more aggressive tone, caused by the fact that more high end frequency content gradually is being picked up by the pickups the harder you pick, which doesn't happen to quite the same extend with higher output humbuckers, and finally single coil pickups will actually also react slightly faster to your picking as well, which adds further to the sense of a direct immediate relationship between your playing and the signal that is put out.

 

I don't know if you could call that more musical, but definitely lower output single coil pickups will be more dynamic and expressive, having a more direct relationship, that feels more immediate and natural, between how you play and the tone the pickups reproduce, in comparison to higher output humbucker pickups.

 

To me this feels more alive to play, but it does also kind of require of you to have a greater degree of control of picking dynamics for it to really be an advantage, otherwise it might even become a disadvantage, resulting in an inconsistent tone, rather than an expressive one.

 

And if you happen to like a consistently big fat compressed tone all this won't matter much anyway, since in that case you would definitely be much better off with high output humbucker pickups.

 

 

Edited September 18, 2022 by Baloney Balderdash

[bloke_zero]

I'm a big fan of low output, they feel more live or open and more responsive to me. Agree on the single coil. It even feels to me like silent 'hum cancelling' coils have a slightly deadening effect, though I could be imagining that.

 

That said I do have high output pickups and they feel like they occupy a different and sometimes wanted sonic space, some are incredibly detailed as well as being higher powered.